It is well known for utility companies to request voluntary curtailment of commodities such as electricity and gas during peak consumption periods. These curtailments have generally been accomplished by utility demand response systems in which the customer receives some incentive for permitting a utility operated shutoff to be place on certain high energy consuming appliances such as hot water heaters, clothes dryers, HVAC systems, etc. These shutoff devices have generally been located on or near the particular appliance being controlled and usually can not be easily accessed or controlled by the customer. Home and small businesses owners have also voluntarily restricted commodity consumption to reduce utility cost. This has generally been accomplished by manually operating the circuit breakers for high energy using appliances to prohibit use during peak and/or high cost usage time. Manual curtailment generally requires access to the electrical service entrance panel to turn the appliance circuit breakers ON and OFF, which is extremely inconvenient if use of the curtailed appliance is required immediately. Computer controlled energy management systems are now being developed for residential and small business use. These systems automatically monitor energy consumption, utility rates, peak usage periods, etc., and control energy costs by curtailing energy usage according to criteria selected by the resident or business owner, such as energy cost, peak usage time or time of day, which are programmed into the system.